You better get used to Robertson at least. I think hes in for the long haul. Obviously has Ladesma’s seal of approval.

D. Braithwaite’s The Brumbies

From what I’ve heard the assistants don’t get much of a say.

Kiwi rugby lover

I will admit to a bit of that but I still think keeping the team together builds consistency and helps with their team work

Bobas

I hate that Jonker guy

D. Braithwaite’s The Brumbies

Just be thankful we have Barnes, who has his head screwed on, rather than Poite or Garces.

The Jackal

Strong team. Nice to have some continuity. Perhaps the last time we will see a full strength Wallabies side this year. Rumour has it that Folau will play Japan Test and not go to Europe for rest. Hooper & Foley need a rest also. Too much rugby on the calendar these days and bigger things looming on the horizon.

I think the All Blacks have around 6 changes to the side we faced in Sydney and we have 7. Game on!

Huw Tindall

Where is the rumour emanating from? Can’t argue that they need a rest though. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them play 40-50 mins in the Barbarians and Japan games – assuming the Wallabies are up in both games and can give the bench an extended run. Potentially big assumption.

onlinesideline

Would be good if Izzy has a rest (but in saying that they/ve all played the same amount of rugby – they are all probably buggered) because we could see soem alternative no 15s have a crack and open up some new possibilities in backline too

Tomthusiasm

Good to see Moore on the bench, as much as I’d like an ABs win it’d be fitting to send him out a winner.

D. Braithwaite’s The Brumbies

Is it though? Doesn’t it devalue the jersey when we’re picking guys (against the All Blacks at home) not because they’re the best player for the jersey but because ‘it’d be fitting to send him out a winner’.

I’m torn as he deserves a sendoff as a great servant of Aussie rugby, but it is hard to argue that he deserves his spot.

onlinesideline

I reckon he deserves his spot big time. Ulyssess has had one run, he’ll have his time. Moore can still put in a massive game and I reckon he will give it everything and if he does hes still bloody effective. Hes got bucketloads of experience.

D. Braithwaite’s The Brumbies

I hope so! It’d be great for him, his legacy and for the Wallabies if he gave a fantastic performance in what I assume will be his last game.

Alister Smith

I broadly agree that he deserves a home send off and that there isn’t anyone putting their hand up so fine that he plays on the weekend. However, should that mean that we take him on the November tour?? My suggestion would be that this is a good opportunity to gives others a go, particularly in that run against Japan and then on the bench for the remainder.

Brumby Runner

It’s my understanding that Squeaky announced his retirement from representative rugby to take effect at the end of TRC.

Alister Smith

yes that’s what I thought too initially but the commentators keep saying “his last game in a Wallabies jersey on home soil”

That’d be a fair point if he had been playing attrocious rugby recently and there was an obvious heir-apparent playing at a higher level, but at this stage I’d say it was an easy choice to lean on the side of sentimentality and give Squeak a send off in front of his home crowd.

D. Braithwaite’s The Brumbies

As much as I love and respect Stephen Moore it’d be remiss if I gave him a free pass while criticising others like Robertson for their poor performances and scrummaging around the park.

I think the most we can say about Moore is that in his last few cameos off the bench he has played okay without being actively good. Uelese demonstrated more power and impact. Is that enough to justify Moore’s spot? Perhaps, given his incredibly long history representing Australia with distinction and honour at all levels, but it still makes me feel a bit awkward as I think that Uelese’s and Moore’s performances show Uelese deserves it more.

Who?

Many say that, but what’s Squeaky got as issues? He’s a bit slow, sure. He’s not as impacting as he was. But he’s an experienced head, clearly our best lineout thrower (a key thing throwing against Whitelock and Read, even without Retallick), and has become quite a good linking forward in attack. His vision with ball in hand has, this year, been as good as any of our forwards, and near on the level of our better backs. It might be a while ago, but he’s beaten the ABs (and at that ground), and I’m sure there’s hunger there. It won’t hurt Uelese to wait just a little bit longer, and I’m not certain that he’d be an improvement over Moore off the bench. There needs to be some experience out there – our primary lineout caller has what, 20 Tests? Our bench lock has what, 3 this week? Do you want a bloke with 2 Tests throwing to a block with 3 Tests in the last 10 against the ABs..? It’s not ideal.

onlinesideline

Ulyssee did also botcha throw on his debut too – just saying.

Tomthusiasm

I haven’t seen Uelese play, but apparently he’s only played 20mins of Super Rugby and 20mins of test Rugby. Personally, I’d pick with the more experienced player.

jamie

And yet in that time he’s outclassed Moore in every minute that he’s played…

Hard to pass judgement on a player you’ve never seen play isn’t it?

Tomthusiasm

Has anyone seen him?

onlinesideline

Simmons – thats a huge worry for me. The guy is just sticking around forever. I just dont see what Cheika sees in him now. He gets manhandled. Pissed Rodda is out.

Mart

Just baffling. I thought the second row puzzle was solved last year with Coleman and Arnold.
Simmons…..Mumm……Hannigan. Why?

D. Braithwaite’s The Brumbies

Simmons does well in the line out and scrummaging (usually) and he is an 80 min grinder who makes a lot of tackles and doesn’t miss many.

That said, he provides very, very little impact. Since Arnold’s knee injury is meant to be minor it’s hard to comprehend Simmons starting given he struggled to get a spot for the Reds.

Braveheart81

Arnold hasn’t been able to train through the major sessions this week.

Bernie Chan

Kind of baffling..like much of Cheika’s approach. I’ll qualify this by admitting I am a fan of Simmons…good TH lock at scrum time and his lineout work is solid (was not happy when he signed for the TAHs…and we got to keep Douglas!), but like many I can’t see what he has done to warrant a Test start considering his struggles this season…has he improved his impact since the end of the Super Rugby season? That said, I hope he goes well and we can pinch a “W”. Pity Hunt is not in the 23…and Hanigan gets another cap…what the?

muffy

I think it’s reliability: solid in scrum and line out. Seldom gets turned over and provides good solid bulk in the loose.

Basically doing the stuff no one gets MOM for.

onlinesideline

cant agree with that Muffy – plenty of second rowers get or go close to MOM based on doing the tough stuff in the shitters. Look at Eden Ezerbet, or our own Coleman has come close to MOM. Simmons has very little bulk. I stood next to him in a fruit shop once after training down at Coogee Beach one fine winters day and first thing that came to mind was geeze this guy aint very intimidating for a Wallaby lock. OTOH walked passed Mark Chisholm ….

Pedro

Fruit shop? Should’ve been at the butcher’s.

onlinesideline

Chisholm walked out of the butchers with half a carcass over his shoulder. We won that week.

Who?

Chis?! So you saw Simmo about 8 years ago……..
Thankfully, he’s actually started filling out the last couple of years. He’s still not as big as Rodda and Tui, but not many tall guys are. Look at the Arnold brothers – they’re tall, and they’re heavy, but they don’t look ‘big’. Neither does Whitelock.
Plus, most locks who get MOTM awards are making big hits in defence and attack. But not always lots of them, and if you’re running the ball lots, you’re not going to secure it as often (which is the busy stuff that gets no one a MOTM award, and which is a priority for tight five forwards). If you’re making big hits, odds are you’re not making as many of them, and you’re a little wider (to get speed into the hit). And, again, you’re not likely to disrupt the breakdown. But you’re more likely to get MOTM.
Someone’s gotta do the dirty work while the other guys run the ball. Dempsey did more breakdown work in SA, and was excited to have a run against the Pumas (look at his pressers leading up to the Mendoza game). I’m not saying Simmons is the only one who can do it, but guys in that role can be overlooked… Look at the way Cheika treated Fardy (ruck monkey and tackler more than ball runner (though his ball running became a strength with time)) compared to Dean Mumm (ruck inspector, ball runner).

Pclifto

Oh please. The only thing Simmons does reliably is giving away stupid penalties, going missing for long stretches and being a total powderpuff with ball in hand

Jason

It’s amazing the only difference between Simmons now and Simmons 12 months ago… He’s signing with the Waratahs for next year.

My bigger concern is why Arnold isn’t even in the 23, I’d rather Arnold or Tui starting with the other on the bench along with Simmons with Hanigan being dumped from the 23.

Huw Tindall

Arnold injured last week in NRC.

Tui too raw to start against the ABs. Simmo actually quite good in set piece.

Only mystery is Hannigan. Tui can cover 4/5 and 6.

Brumby Runner

Am I right in saying that Dempsey and Koroibete are the only changes from the Dunedin test, or did Rob Simmons not start that match? If that’s the case, this side will be a little bit stronger than the one put out in Dunedin. Watch out ABs.

Chinese Dave

Personally, I’m just happy to see more Tahs in the team. My opinion of Rob Simmons has improved drastically since his signing, and the only silver lining in Ned being dropped was that he was replaced by another Tah. But what does Phipps have to do to get a start? This Melbourne Rebels bias is killing me.

Simon

Cheika’s blue tint has reached obscene proportions. Robertson and Hanigan are both promising young players but this year has repeatedly shown neither of them are ready for this level yet.

And all this talk in Sydney papers about trying to pin down what Simmons is doing differently since he signed to get back not just into the squad but into the starting side. I’ll tell you what he’s doing differently. Nothing! He is doing absolutely nothing differently! He’s exactly the same player.

It pains me to say this as a Reds fan but can the Tahs please sign Liam Gill ASAP? It’d kill me to see him in a sky blue jersey but at least I could be sure to see him in a gold one.

Braveheart81

Who is the LHP who is ready for test rugby? It certainly wasn’t Tetera Faulkner last test and it certainly wasn’t Toby Smith in June against Italy. Robertson has been fine. I expect Slipper will come back into the 23 next year but currently Robertson is the best option for that bench spot.

D. Braithwaite’s The Brumbies

Mate, it was one test.

Robertson has been poor to awful in about 10 now. Maybe more.

And he hasn’t been fine, even Slipper has been an average backup but Robertson has been far worse. Go back and watch his scrum performances.

Braveheart81

On what basis has he been awful? Our scrum has generally held up well and certainly there hasn’t been a big drop off in any games when Robertson has been on the field. We have given away 8 penalties by the front rowers in the scrum in the Rugby Championship. 5 of those were Sio, one Kepu, one Moore and one Robertson.

Robertson’s workrate has been solid both in terms of tackles made and ruck cleanouts (stats compiled by ForceFan).

I think your comments are based on general dislike for the guy rather than any hard evidence. Again, you need to compare him against the other options available right now which certainly haven’t done anything to show they are better.

Who would you be selecting as the reserve LHP and on what basis do you think they will be substantially better than Robertson?

jamie

I definitely wouldn’t say Robertson has been “fine”.

Maybe he was “okay” with 2 big locks and a powerful hooker behind him, but certainly not “fine”

Kiwi rugby lover

Why’s that CD? Not saying anything against those selected (like most concerned with some) but why more from the Tahs? It’s not like they covered themselves in glory in Super rugby

McWarren

Is 10 enough? I mean how must the other Tahs feel? My real concern is the mental state of the missing Tahs.

Fatflanker

This lack of enough Tahs could cost us the game – Cheika will have a lot to answer for.

Who?

Beautifully done, CD.
That said… With ‘only’ 10 Tahs, I think we’re still on track to have more Tahs than the Sydney Bledisloe, which is, I believe, the lowest number of Tahs we’ve had in a Test this year. Think we only had 9. Isn’t that odd?! Normally you’d pick the home town boys, but the Tahs get lots of ‘away’ games.

Adrian

Looks ok to me.
I would have had Simmons on bench, and probably Around to start. Alnold out of form and a bit injured I think.
Tui too raw to start v NZ I think.
Moore lucky, but would be line ball with Uelese,… again about experience v NZ.
Good back bench, Hunt has to wait, but he’ll be a starter in Spring tour.

We are a real chance, but odds favour NZ in every match

Hoss

Only surprise is Henry Speight, i would have had money on Hunt being on the pine.

I dont see the value of a specialist winger on the pine ?

AlanDownunder

Since Hodge is not a “specialist winger”, what’s the problem?

onlinesideline

too undercooked

Phil Kcraig

Yeh would have had Hunt over Speight. Can’t see Speight next year making the Wallabies 23 with DHP and Sefa back and others.

Jason

I’d just like to ask why on earth we are giving the 28 year old Nick Phipps another cap off the bench, we have a bunch of young halfbacks (James Tuttle, Joe Powell, Jake Gordon).

Phipps wasn’t even the best halfback for the Waratahs this year yet keeps getting test caps!

Bobas

just 3 more caps and he can be brought back from overseas!

John Miller

If I bought him a dozen Fedoras could we ship him overseas now?

Pedro

He threw two intercepts that directly led to tries against qld country, he’s putting people through holes.

Bobas

That’s the consistency the wallabies are after. Phipps struggles to get charged down as he doesn’t kick that often so he had to improvise.

Jason

Mate I really rate Tuttle he is really starting to remind me of a young Will Genia. And his 75% kicking is just icing on the cake and would allow you to just pick your best 10 rather than having to compromise and pick a kicking 10 or something.

Brumby Runner

Powell is quoted in the press this week as saying that Cheika has told him to become more consistent with his passing game. What a joke. If a consistent passing game is the measure of a test No 9 then Phipps should be nowhere near the team.

ReinFORCE

Chinese Dave is messing with us – trolling

ReinFORCE

Ned looks like he is wearing Tui’s jersey.

John Miller

Tui’s was in the wash. That’s Genia’s kit.

onlinesideline

alot hinges on Genia. If hes on song we look sooo much better

Greg

means… are the forwards going forward. it all has to happen up front in the set piece and the breakdown or we are phaaaaarked

Gipetto

All the Simmons baggers can suck it. He can tackle, pass, catch, maul, scum, score intercept tries, retain possession in contact give great service to the #9 and do it all for 80 minutes. The other locks run out of gas or get injured and leave gaps in the defence. Coleman started the last match making three mistakes in a row. Simmo will play 100 tests. Dempsey played well for 50 minutes last week then ran out of gas and Coach Clown replaced McMahon! If Ned is the impact weapon/ finisher the AB’s will close out the game with a few late tries.

Parker

Hanigan??? Again?
At school we had a term for the out of form or sub standard player who kept being selected regardless — Son of Coach